Chase Manhattan Corp. is planning to send its customers personalized e-mails reminding them of anything from a cousins birthday to a pets appointment at the vet.
The New York banking company announced Friday that it had signed a contract with LifeMinders Inc. of Herndon, Va., to supply the technology.
Chases 750,000 online customers will be able to request the free e-mail service and receive reminders or tips that fall into categories including family, men, women, pets, personal events, home, work and money, travel, and shopping.
The attempt by Chase to involve itself in customer issues that go beyond banking is part of a trend by financial institutions to be viewed as indispensable advisers on all aspects of life, not just financial matters.
Stephen R. Chapin Jr., the founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of LifeMinders, previously worked as a vice president at First USA, where he and his marketing team built a database on 60 million customers. The information dictated which products First USA would offer to particular customers and at what times.
Mr. Chapin built on that database marketing background to found LifeMinders in 1996, he said. The company went public last November.
LifeMinders has contracts to send personalized e-mails to the customers of about 20 large companies, which together have about 60 million customers. Chase is the first bank customer.
